Swab cup adapter



Sept. 26, 1967 w. B. TINSLEY SWAB CUP ADAPTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 24, 1965 W//// 0/7? .5. T/ J/ey INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY P 6, 1967 w. B. TINSLEY 3,343,461

SWAB CUP ADAPTER Filed March 24, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W////0m .5. 77/7J/ey INVENTOR.

ATTO/P/VLV United States Patent 3,343,461 SWAB CUP ADAPTER William B. Tinsley, 1926 Colony Drive, Irving, Tex. 75060 Filed Mar. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 442,450 1 Claim. (Cl. 92-180) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A swab cup adapter formed of rigid tubular material and shaped to provide an inwardly tapered inside upper wall and an annular shoulder on said inside wall, and an inwardly tapered outside lower wall, said upper inside area being adapted to receive the lower inwardly tapered portion of a swab cup, and the lower margin of said adapter being positioned to bear against the upper end margin of an abutting swab cup, adjacent the axial core thereof, to expand the material of said cup outwardly, the annular shoulder in said adapter acting as a stop against which the respective cores of the adjacent swab cups will abut to limit the degree of expansion of said cups, all of said members, adapter and swab cups, being loosely mounted on a grooved mandrel having means for limiting the longitudinal movement of said members thereon.

T his invention relates to new and useful improvements in a swab cup adapter.

Summary of the invention In swabbing operations, particularly in oil wells, the swab cups are mounted on a mandrel and are of a diameter that will permit their being lowered into the well and various means are employed to bring about the expansion of the leading edges of the swab cups as they are drawn upwardly through the string of pipe in the well in order to make a clean wipe of the inside walls of the pipe. It is an object of this invention to provide an adapter to be mounted between the swab cups in their position on the mandrel, having means to receive the lower end of the swab cups in one end of the adapter and to bear against and expand the upper end of the swab cups beneath the adapter to move the leading edge of the cups against the inside walls of the well string being swabbed.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention has relation to certain novel features of construction more particularly defined in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional elevational view of a swab in a string of pipe.

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the adapter in one position.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the adapter from another position.

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional elevational view of the device on a swab in a string of pipe in the lowering position, and

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional elevational view of the device in a string of pipe in raising position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a swab mandrel having the usual grooves 2, 2. The swab cups 3, 3 are constructed in the usual manner, having a rigid core 4 and molded rubber thereon, having a flat end face 5 at the upper end and a tapered end face 6 at the lower end, when mounted on the mandrel. The cups are usually mounted in a series of three, with a spacer 12 between each series, although they may be of any size or in any number desired. A retainer nut 7 is mounted on the bottom of the mandrel 1 and the lowermost series of swab cups 3, 3 abut against this nut.

The adapter 8 consists of the rigid annular body of an outside diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of the swab cups being employed. The inside upper end wall 9 of the adapter, as it is mounted on the mandrel 1, is inwardly tapered and the outer wall of the adapter is tapered inwardly at the opposing end as at 10, terminating in the end face 11 of slightly greater diameter than the rigid core in the swab cup. The inside upper wall 9 of the adapter terminates at the annular projection 13 formed in the inside wall of the adapter 8.

An adapter 8 is mounted between each pair of cups 3, 3 and as the swab is lowered into a string of pipe in the well as 14, the cups will yield upwardly, allowing fluid to pass between the end faces of the cups, through the mandrel grooves 2. When the mandrel reaches the bottom of the area to be swabbed, the mandrel is drawn upwardly, and the weight of the fluid in the string of pipe will move the cups downwardly. As the pressure of the fluid in the string bears down on the swab cups 3, the adapter end faces 11 will bite into the material of the upper end faces 5 of the swab cups beneath and the beveled face 10 will cause the material of the swab cup to expand against the inside wall of the string of pipe 14. The amount of expansion is controlled by the annular abutment 13, as when the rigid core 4 of the swab cup seats on the abutment 13, the expansion of the material of the swab cup will stop.

If desired the bevel of the face 9 may be extended to the outer wall of the adapter in order that the lower edge of the swab cup may also be expanded, the bevel of this face determining the degree of expansion. A fine edge providing a lesser expansion than a more blunt edge.

If desired the adapter may be made an integral part of the swab cup, extending from the lower end thereof and joined to the rigid core.

The preferred means of accomplishing the expansion is the tapered annular face 10, however, it is contemplated that this may be of any desired shape on the extended edge, that is, it may be as shown or it may be formed as an annular toothed end face, or the like, as will best expand the material of the swab cup against the inside wall of the string of pipe.

While the foregoing is considered a preferred form of the invention, it is by way of illustration only, the broad principle of the invention being defined by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In combination, a swab cup adapter for use on swab mandrels and swab cups having rigid vertically moveable cores and bonded rubber on said rigid cores, said adapter comprising an annular body member having an inwardly tapering inside wall at one end and an annular abutment on said inside wall at the terminal of said taper midway between the respective ends of said body member, the outside wall at the other end of said member being tapered inwardly and said annular member having a bore in said other end terminating at said abutment, said bore being greater than the outside diameter of the rigid core of the swab cups permitting free vertical movement thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,714,164 5/1929 Gage 92-l80 2,408,979 10/1946 Holt 92-180 X 2,921,632 1/1960 Clark 2771l6.2 3,075,474 l/ 1963 Kelley 103225 X 3,179,022 4/1965 Bloudofi 92l80 X MARTIN P. SCHWADRON, Primary Examiner.

G. N. BAUM, Assistant Examiner. 

